What Happens After
by SAdisxrcasTIC
Summary: What happens after is never promised. The inevitable occurs, and Artemis must find some way to accept his fate-or do the impossible. Rated T to be safe.
1. Prologue

**AN: I'll keep this short. This is my first story, so ****don't be mean!**** yeah, I don't really expect that. Constructive criticism wanted and adored. **

**Disclaimer: I don't see the point of this; I don't own Artemis Fowl. **

Prologue

_The wind, individual knives, bit at the skin of the small group gathered on the roof of the high rise. Holly squinted against the wind, aiming her Neutrino 3000. She wasn't going to let weather conditions possibly ruin her aim, especially when it might be a life and death situation. Opal Koboi smirked, showing small pearly teeth. Rather, to be more accurate, two of her smirked. _

_Another issue to Major Short. She wasn't exactly sure which pixie to aim at, past or present. She supposed the one on the left was the present one, as she had rounded, humanoid ears and was taller. The human Opal, while the right one was the pixie Opal. Making a decision, Holly set her Neutrino to crisp, and aimed at the human Opal. She, at least, couldn't heal immediately…and what difference would it make anyways? Holly started to pull the trigger, when the pixie Opal spoke. _

"_Oh, I wouldn't do that if I were you, Major," She cautioned dryly._

_Holly paused, adjusting her aim, and asked, "Why not?" _

_This time, the human Opal replied, "Oh, nothing much. Just…you might regret it." The acid in her words made Holly waver slightly. What if…_

_No. She wouldn't let their words get to her. Holly gritted her teeth, tuning the words out, and pulled the trigger. The shot went through the human Opal, and the illusion flickered and died. _

_Holly paled. It was a trick! She'd forgotten how strong the pixie had gotten. Swerving her Neutrino around, she aimed at the pixie Opal. The fairy grinned, wagging a finger. "Oh, no, my dear elf. Bad mistake." _

_At that point, all hell broke loose, as Opal dropped a small white pearl on the ground. Bright light shot out, blinding the viewers. Holly covered her eyes, and in the chaos of the moment, she faintly heard Butler cry out behind her, "Artemis!" _

_Holly opened her eyes, squinting against the white light covering everything. She felt utterly helpless, not being able to see anything. A few seconds, and the light dissipated. Holly swung the gun around to where the pixie was, at the edge of the roof. This was no time for any more hesitation; the situation was rapidly deteriorating. Holly pulled the trigger. _

_The Opal she shot at crumpled and fell off the edge of the building. Holly felt her heart sink for some reason. She jerked around, eyes widening in terror as she saw the true pixie and human Opals a few meters to her right, eyes lit up with amusement and triumph. Glancing behind her, Holly's eyes grazed over the figures of Juliet and Butler, not taking in their terrified eyes, searching for someone else…her brain caught up suddenly. The realization hit her like a freight train. Holly yelled back to Juliet and Butler, "Where's Artemis?" _

_Butler shouted back, "I don't know!" _

_They both looked at the edge of the roof and Holly opened her wings, flying over the edge of the building, just in time to see the slim figure of Artemis Fowl disappearing into the clouds, suit flapping almost comically. He was unconscious, aware of nothing but the fact that Holly had shot at him a moment ago. Holly plummeted down, desperately trying to catch up with the falling genius. It was a lost cause, states the laws of gravity, so all Holly could do was watch her best friend fall to death. It was all her fault. _

_A crowd was gathering around the dark haired youth on the pavement below. The screech of sirens cut through the night, signaling the end for the Irish genius. No one expected it, though perhaps it was inevitable anyways…_

**AN: *ducks* Oh noes! I'm gonna be attacked by Artemis fangirls! Anyways, next chapter coming up! Don't worry, it's not the end of Artemis yet…you'll see. Reviews make me happy! ^^ **


	2. Chapter One

**AN: Finally I have time to get the next chapter up! Unfortunately, updates will not be as frequent (like they were before .) as I have to write the chapters. xP Sorry. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl. All characters and ideas belong to their respective owners.**

Chapter One

Artemis opened his eyes quickly. He couldn't see anything but darkness. Confused, Artemis took this time to sort through exactly what had happened. It was all a blur, but his heart hurt at the betrayal of one particular incident. Holly had shot him? Frowning, Artemis took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He meditated on this for a moment, and came to a conclusion. No, Holly wouldn't willingly shoot at him. This had to be Opal. Artemis scowled at the trickery. Well, now he had to analyze the situation he was in now.

Looking around the darkness, it was evident that there wasn't really anything to see. Artemis peered into the black, seeing a flicker of movement. Suddenly, mist poured and lit the darkness faintly. A shrouded figure in gray started slowly drifting in the scene. It was like one of those low budget horror movies. How cliché, really.

The shrouded figure got closer and closer, and then stopped, seeming almost a bit miffed at Artemis's reaction. Sighing, the figure waved a hand, and the darkness and mist faded, revealing a simple empty street as background. The figure's gray clock and hood vanished, revealing a black-haired girl with equally dark eyes. She was just barely shorter than Artemis, wearing a gothic black dress and knee high red converses. Glaring at the boy, she kicked at the asphalt.

"_That _was not the right reaction," The girl grumbled, giving a pointed look at Artemis.

Feeling more at ease than he thought was normal, the young genius scoffed, "What was I supposed to do? Scream? Be terrified? It was too overdone."

The girl casually dismissed the subject, "Yeah, I suppose. Anyways, on to introductions," A small smile here, and she continued, "I'm Death, but that name isn't really 'feminine', is it?" She paused, rolling her eyes. "So, I'd rather you call me Dea. Who are you?"

Artemis didn't look very surprised at the name, but decided to keep that tidbit of information to study at a later time. Maybe he had gone mad, and was hallucinating. He'd just have to accept that he wasn't in the world of the living anymore, and this world was apparently governed by Death. No, scratch that. _Dea._ Artemis obligingly answered the girl (he didn't feel comfortable thinking about her as Death), "Artemis Fowl the II."

Dea's eyes widened, "Whoa. Artemis Fowl?" A scroll of paper came out of nowhere, which the girl caught and scratched out his name with a pen. Almost sadistically, she commented, "I thought you'd never die, to be honest."

"Er…" It wasn't often that Artemis was incapable of speech; this was only the third time.

Dea rolled up the paper and it disappeared. She started walking away from Artemis, and looked back. "Come on!"

Artemis catched up to the swiftly walking girl, and looked around at his surroundings with amazement. The background was changing erratically, like pictures flickering through an album, but showing the same empty road. Looking up into the sky, Artemis noticed there was no sun in the gray sky.

Dea started talking as they were walking, paying their surroundings no mind. "I guess I should explain things. Where we are is Death. Yes, awfully confusing, both a place and an entity named Death. Anyways, this is where you'll stay for the rest of your non-existence, where everyone that's dead will stay. I tried to model it off of the living world-too many people were moping about their previous life. However, here, you aren't limited by human necessities like sleep, food, etc. Time also passes differently. Then there's all this other stuff, which I don't really care about. Questions?"

Artemis had a million questions, but decided to ask a general one, "What is the physics of this place? Is it even restricted by science? And…if every other dead person is here, why are we the only two people on this street?"

Dea looked annoyed, shooting Artemis a look that said she didn't want questions. "Well, like I said, don't care about the science of this world. You can ask Einstein or some other dead dude, I'm sure they'll have a lot to say about physics. As for your other question," A proud tone crept into her voice, "This place was really getting crowded. The streets, everywhere was filled with people, and it was irritating having to see them, and I bet they weren't fond of the dead population continually rising. So, I decided to let them see what to see: you only see what you're looking for, and its only there if you notice it. For example," Dea gestured to the road, "This road could be filled with people in actuality, but, they're not there because you aren't trying to see them."

Artemis creased his forehead, taking in what Dea told him and the implications of that. "So, if I'm trying to see other people on this road…" Artemis trailed off, focusing on his surroundings. Blinking, he saw faint outlines of figures moving on the road. They went through him, and before the figures could materialize completely, he blinked again, and everything vanished.

"Odd," Artemis noted.

Dea shrugged and walked on, the scenery flitting past. Soon enough, they stopped at a nondescript alley. Artemis studied the alley carefully, peeking into the shadows. He noticed that the shadows in the alley seemed to be almost reflected, coming from an internal light source. There didn't seem to be a sun in this world. The image of the alley looked like it was painted to Artemis's acute eyes, and Artemis was certain if he reached out to touch a brick in the building, the entire image would blur like an undeveloped photograph. Artemis was getting warier about the girl besides him, the one who looked more and more dangerous as he learned more about this place after life.

Dea stared at the alley with interest. She reached out with a hand and conjured a key. The key fit inside some hidden keyhole in the darkness of the alley, and a door swung open, leading to a brighter place from what Artemis could see. Just as he suspected. The alley had no depth; it was a mere illusion, a painting.

Dea gestured for Artemis to walk through the doorway. She stood at the fringe of the alley, having no intentions of going in with Artemis. "Go in," She said, "It is a hallway. Pick whichever door you'd like, but remember the room number. After this, I usually don't associate with the dead. You can figure things out for yourself; you're smart enough anyways." Dea smiled encouragingly at the youth, and then frowned, adding in, "If you want to find me, I'll be in the room with the golden door. For…you know. Business negotiations." Her smirk revealed to Artemis that this girl knew more than should be known. He shivered involuntarily, gave a last glance to Dea who was now merrily waving, and stepped into the entrance. The passageway closed behind him, and he was utterly stuck and alone in a hallway of white doors.

Artemis decided he'd better follow what she said, so he started walking down the hall, looking over the doors. The numbers on the doors didn't have any particular order, skipping from '67' to '891' to '5' and then to a strange archaic symbol Artemis vaguely remembered from an Internet trawl. Deciding that room was worth investigating, Artemis opened the door to the room, and found himself teetering on the edge of…well…nothing. Holding on to the door frame for dear life, Artemis found himself wondering what would happen if he took just one step and fell off the edge into nonentity. Breathing heavily, Artemis lurched himself away from the door, which closed automatically. Perhaps he should stay away from suspicious-looking doors, for the sake of his sanity.

But Artemis's curiosity was never satisfied, and he decided that taking a quick peek in some other doors wasn't going to kill him or anything. The irony in that: he was already dead, of course. Besides, didn't Dea tell him to "pick a door"?

Artemis continued down the hall, which didn't end. It dragged on and on, and Artemis concluded if he were to retrace his steps and go backwards in the hall, the doors would be completely different. So he went on, looking at the doors as he passed. A few also had unknown symbols for room numbers, but Artemis didn't dare look in those. He stopped walking suddenly, feeling a strange indescribable wanting to open the door to the right of him. The room number was '0'.

Artemis opened the door slowly, tilting his body away from the doorway as a precaution. The room it led to was nothing special, a warm cozy living room of sorts with a fireplace glowing brightly at the far wall. The décor was plaid and floral, and a small lady sat in a rocking chair by the fire. Her face turned towards Artemis, smiling. The lady had dark brown hair, and light blue eyes, and looked young, but wise with age, at the same time. She would be fairly normal, if there wasn't an ethereal aura emanating from the woman, filling the room and beckoning Artemis to come in. He didn't feel that this lady was any danger to him at all, and he wanted the company of this lady.

"Artemis Fowl the II…come in please," The lady's tone was soft and gentle, yet commanding. Her voice reminded Artemis of bells and crystal wind chimes.

Artemis tentatively entered the room, the door behind him closing. Artemis walked close to the lady, and sat on the green sofa facing the woman.

"There are things you should know, Artemis. I don't think that you've seen the world of the living for the last time," Her expression became intense, almost painful. "No…definitely not, there are still untied strings that are dangling…" The lady sighed, taking a sip from a porcelain tea cup beside her.

Artemis was intrigued. "Who are you?" he blurted out.

The woman smiled again, laughing softly. "Who am I? Dear, I'm…" The woman trailed off, lost in thought. "Well," she said, "that is hard to define. I suppose you can think of me as the Source. Indeed, where all knowledge and compassion is derived from…and I am _very_ interested in you, Artemis."

Artemis scowled. Him? Why, of course. "What should I refer to you as, then?"

The woman seemed amused, looking down at Artemis like one would a small child. "Referring? Titles? Names? Hah!"

That was the only answer Artemis got, so he decided to skip the subject completely, getting to the point. "I do not want to be dead, or think I should be. So, I need to return to the world of the living," Artemis stated flatly.

The woman laughed, putting a hand over her mouth. Giggling, she asked, "How do you know that I can help you with that? Even if I can, it's not in my ability. You'll have to talk to Dea about that."

Artemis was a bit disappointed, but he knew that this strange woman could help him. "Please," he persisted, "I know you can help me. It's important. I need to get back."

The woman sighed, looking at him with solemn eyes, "You cannot believe how many times I've heard that. For anyone else, I wouldn't be able to do anything. But because I've foreseen your fate…okay, Artemis. I will help and guide you, but the final decision on your life is made by Dea."

Artemis smiled, and held his head higher. Very formally, he said, "Yes, I think we've reached an agreement."

The woman nodded, and suggested, "How about you go pick out a room? I think Room 21 is available. Keep going down this hall, you'll see the room on the right. If you ever need to see me, I'll be close by. Room 0."

Artemis inclined his head slightly, and then started to stand up from the sofa. The woman stopped him, and then walked to the other side of the room with Artemis following curiously.

"I know I have it somewhere," She muttered, looking through a closet filled to the brim with odd curiosities. Taking out a small flat mirror with delicate golden flowers painted on the back, the woman handed it to Artemis.

He stared at the mirror, giving the woman a "are you kidding me?" look. She curled his fingers around the handle, explaining, "Take it. It'll help you, and I think you should have it."

Artemis opened his mouth to ask what it was used for, when the woman pushed him gently towards the door. He stumbled into the hallway, the door closing with a click behind him.

Grasping the mirror loosely in his right hand, Artemis walked slowly, studying the numbers on the doors. After a few minutes of walking, Artemis found the door the woman told him. Room number 21, he remembered. Artemis stepped up to the door, and turned the doorknob.

The door swung open, revealing an empty white room, about as large as Artemis's bedroom at Fowl Manor. It looked plain and normal, the same as any empty bedroom. Artemis walked into the room, and the room changed, the white walls turning a rich, wine red color. Furniture appeared in the room, starting with a large, mahogany bed with a cream duvet. A same colored desk materialized in the corner, a stained glass lamp on the desk. Artemis was amazed; the room was an exact replica of his bedroom at Fowl Manor. The only difference was that a white square 2 cm thick replaced the laptop on his desk at the manor, a silver Powerbook.

Artemis made his way around the room, looking at every detail. There was a door on the right wall of the bedroom; Artemis opened it to reveal a closet. His suits and ties were hanging neatly, and Artemis allowed himself a rare chuckle. Well. Perhaps this place wasn't going to be so bad after all, if it mimicked his bedroom. In fact, there were a lot of things about this place that would be interesting to discover…

Artemis yawned, and rubbed his eyes. He hadn't realized how tired he was, and that bed was looking better and better every minute. Artemis took off his worn suit, resting it on the back of a chair besides his desk. Slipping under the smooth covers of the bed, Artemis drowsily wondered if he could even sleep anymore, in this strange afterlife. The mirror the woman gave him was still in his grasp, though Artemis barely felt it and didn't notice it. His eyes closed, and Artemis entered a strange state of mind, not exactly sleep, as Artemis was conscious in this state.

The mirror slipped down on the bedsheets, Artemis's fingertips just touching. The mirror began to glow, the reflective glass swirling into a dense amethyst cloud, the magic spreading into Artemis's body and filling his consciousness.

**A/N: The first thing I'd like to say: Constructive criticism. I hope this chapter wasn't too boring or confusing…and that Artemis was IC. Reviews please; they make me write faster! ^_ **

**PS: If you have any questions, feel free to contact me! **


	3. Chapter Two

**AN: Ah, sorry for the rather long wait. (That is, if you were waiting.) Nonetheless, here it is. **

**Disclaimer: I don't own Artemis Fowl. All characters and ideas belong to their respective owners.**

Chapter Two

_Artemis felt as if he was watching a scene from a play acted out right before his eyes. Reaching one hand out at the image in front of him, she stared at the illusion. If he was dreaming, this was a very vivid dream. Artemis was in Fowl Manor, standing in the entryway. Everything was as he remembered it, though there was sign of time passing. Artemis noted the withered flowers that were newly picked from the garden the last time he saw them. Then a large looming figure came into view from the kitchen, and Artemis focused on him. It was Butler, unhappy and fatigued. He walked with a slight slump, as if there was a great weight on his back. Artemis wanted to reach a hand out and comfort the giant manservant, but found unable to do that. _

_It is just an image, he told himself. Still, Artemis couldn't help but feel homesick and lonely without all the people he loved (ironic to realize it only after he was dead) at Fowl Manor. Artemis did not move himself, though the image moved, and he was following Butler into the sitting room. There, his mother and father were sitting on the sofa, his mother heaving great sobs into Timmy's shoulder. _

_Mom. Dad. Artemis opened his mouth to speak, but no sound came out. Again, there was that same sense of irony; was he only able to be informal with them when they couldn't hear him? Strangely enough, his parents looked up, and around, expression puzzled. _

"_What was that?" Angeline asked, blinking tears from her red eyes, "I thought I heard something…"_

_His father was similarly confused, but reassured his wife, "No, it's nothing. It can't be anything. Shhh." Yet, he was also distressed over the echo of his son's voice. _

_This Artemis could hear perfectly, and he strained to shout and make himself heard, but the echo had passed and he was only a passive observer. So Artemis observed and watched the scene carefully, turning his head as Juliet came out of the kitchen carrying a tray of fresh fruit. She was not crying, but there were red streaks across her face and a slight moisture in her eyes. _

_Placing the tray on the table, Juliet hugged her brother tightly. Butler's arms wrapped around Juliet, and Artemis swore there were tears on his face. _

_Then, Myles and Beckett entered the room. Beckett whining softly, "Why are you all sad? Where's Arty?"_

_Myles shushed Beckett with a glare, and whispered, "Don't interrupt simple-toon! Don't you know anything? Artemis has gone away!" _

_Beckett, with wide, naïve eyes, looked at Myles weirdly and asked, "What's 'gone away'?" _

_Myles just took Beckett's arm and led him to the sofa, where they buried into the space between their mom and dad. _

_Artemis stared at the scene, heart sinking lower and lower. Idiot, he said to himself, you idiot. You had all this and you never realized it? Idiot! _

_Artemis frowned at the scene. His family was all here, but…there was someone else that he needed to see. Would she forget about him that easily? Did she care that he died? This sent Artemis into a state of shock, and he breathed out, "Holly, where are you?" _

_Instantly, the scene transformed, fading away. Artemis reached out, wanting to take his words back. Would he ever see the scene again? His family? Then the image re-appeared, only_ _this time, it was in a dark and small room, with a twin bed and dresser in it. In the dark, he made out the figure of an elf sitting on the bed. She looked up, and Artemis looked more closely. He could just make out the features of his elf friend, Holly Short. She was crying softly, hiccupping every so often. Mumbling indistinct words, Holly wiped her eyes. _

_Artemis leaned in to try and make out the words. He only caught a few words._

"…_D'arvit, Artemis! You are so…irritating…" Holly muttered, staring at the cracks in the ceiling. _

_Artemis smiled unhappily. At least she didn't forget about him. _

_Now Artemis was beginning to realize the extent of his "dream" state. Closing his eyes, Artemis imagined himself in a bright white room, sitting in a Victorian-era chair. It was so, and as Artemis opened his eyes, the scene appeared in front of him. He began to think, figuring out each individual reason for this odd dream that he was fully able to control. The image changed before his eyes, turning into black lines in a straight pattern that crisscrossed the white, gray areas in-between. _

"_Very aesthetic," He commented, looking curiously at his thought process. Artemis chose a few of the lines, following them to respective dead ends. Sighing and rubbing his temple, Artemis scowled as he ruled out the most obvious reasons. A line skirted by his sight, and Artemis chased it, wondering why it was even moving. Gasping, Artemis ran after the black line, and using one foot, stepped on the edge of the line. It thrashed under his heel, and then became still. Artemis peered at the line, following it to some explanation. At the end, he saw the ornate mirror, surface clouded with purple. So this conscious state was produced by the mirror? Magic? He noted mentally to try and find the woman that gave_ _him the mirror._

_Inquisitive, Artemis touched the image with one finger, and he lost his footing, tumbling through what seemed to be infinite shades of white and gray, his mind swirling. _

Artemis's hand twitched, the mirror falling onto the floor. The amethyst that clouded the surface faded, once again becoming reflective. Artemis shifted in the bed, face frowning. His eyelids fluttered as his body tried to regain complete consciousness out of the dream state. Finally, Artemis opened his eyes, seeing the ceiling above him. Groaning, Artemis sat up, stretching. He felt exhausted strangely, even though he was in bed for a long time, it seemed. Artemis stood up, bare feet stepping on something cold and delicate. He looked down, and picked up the mirror, staring at his reflection. The time spent in another state of consciousness flooded back to Artemis. He stared at the mirror in fascination, and then gently put it on the bedside table, feeling a migraine coming. Lying back on the bed, Artemis buried his face in the pillow, weak and tired. When he closed his eyes this time, his consciousness drifted away, and Artemis fell asleep.

It was another stretch of time before Artemis woke up. He sat up in bed immediately, feeling well-rested. Artemis remembered his mental note, and decided to look around a bit more and try and find that woman who gave him the mirror. He took a suit out of the closet, and looked at the label before putting it on. He stuffed the mirror in the jacket pocket and opened the door leading outside, hesitantly stepping out into the hallway. Artemis wasn't completely sure that he would be able to find his room again, but he had a feeling it would always be near. Closing the door, Artemis glanced up at the room number, just before he blinked. When he looked again, the doors shifted and his room was out of sight.

Artemis started walking down the hall, looking right and left, trying to find the right door. Room 0, he remembered from the last visit to the woman. After a while, Artemis gave up on finding the room, and just walked straight ahead, not looking for anything. He passed a shining gold door, stopped, and then walked back to the door, staring at the plaque that read,

**Do not disturb unless you'd like to get fried,**

**Much love,**

**DEA**

Artemis coughed, looking at the plaque again to make sure it was real. He wasn't that fond now of going through the door, but it was Dea's room (hadn't she said he could find her?) and sooner or later, Artemis would have to brave turning the polished doorknob. Might as well be sooner, he decided, if there was any chance of him cheating Death. Now that he seriously considered it, Artemis was having second thoughts.

Artemis composed himself, wrapped his hand around the doorknob, sighed (for good measure) and then quickly opened the door. Looking inside, Artemis saw nothing but a white room, albeit twice, maybe three times, the size of his room. Artemis knew how quickly appearances could change though, and stepped over the threshold. The room did not change, but Artemis saw that the door had shut by itself and disappeared. It was probably not a good sign.

He waited for anything at all in the room. Any sort of change. Getting impatient, Artemis called out, "Hello? Is there anyone in here?"

"WHAT?" hollered a voice emanating from the walls and almost bursting Artemis's eardrum. He winced.

Dea emerged from the back of the room, black hair tied back in a messy ponytail. She was scowling, searching the room for whoever disregarded her plaque. Seeing Artemis, her scowl changed into a massive smile, which scared Artemis more than the scowl did. Dea strode over to Artemis, appraising him carefully.

"Hm," She scoffed, looking at her nails, "So. Did you get a room?"

Artemis nodded in response.

"Well then. What are you doing here? It's a bit too early, I'd think."

Artemis smiled politely, copying her bored manner, "Well, excuse me if I'm not aware of time here."

Dea seemed irritated at his behavior, which caused Artemis much amusement. She spoke, "Not going into a huge explanation here, but time doesn't exist here. What I meant, though, is that you are way too early to talk to me about this, okay? Don't rush me, okay?"

Artemis was confused by her words at first, but slowly got it. It was a perfect chance to grate Dea's nerves. "It's too early to talk to you about what? Rush you about what? I do not know what you mean," Artemis asked innocently.

Dea full out scowled, and shot back, "Look, your innocent act does not work. I know that you know, so stop pretending already and get out of my room."

Artemis's smile widened, "You still haven't explained anything."

Dea glared at him, "Do I need to make this so obvious? I _know_ that you want to get out of this place, and you are scheming about it even this second! So just shoo until you can convince me of that!"

Artemis grinned. "Oh, I knew _that_. Why didn't you make yourself clear in the first place?"

Dea scoffed and muttered under her breath, "Stupid genius. I hate those types."

Artemis knew it probably wasn't the best decision to provoke Dea, who literally had his life on a thread, but it was hard not to appreciate the kind of humor he knew best. "Well, this was a pleasant talk. I think I'll be going now. Good bye; _au revoir._"

"Shut up and get out of here already."

Artemis turned and walked back towards the general direction of the door. It appeared and he left the room. Stepping out into the hallway, Artemis saw the golden door shift before his eyes, and then it was gone. He leaned against the wall, unsure of what to do next. Having given up on finding Room 0 a long time ago, Artemis was just wandering. He thought of the empty street (or seemingly empty street) that led to this hallway. Could he go back to that street? Artemis didn't remember which door it was though; they all looked exactly the same. He also couldn't exactly just go back to his room, mainly because he couldn't find it. That seemed to be the reason for all of his problems: he couldn't find it.

"Whoever designed this floor plan is a complete moron," Artemis muttered, annoyed. Suddenly, Artemis tripped over a fold in the carpet that seemed to pop up out of nowhere, tumbling to the floor. Artemis cringed in pain. Okay then. No insulting Dea here without consequences, it seemed.

"You got that right, moron," Dea said, appearing in the hallway.

Artemis scowled. He was doing that a lot lately. "Do you always just appear everywhere?" He inquired, getting up from the hallway floor.

Dea shrugged and replied, "Yeah, mostly. Anyways, since you have no idea where even your room is, and I'm getting tired of you wandering the hallway, I'll tell you something: the way out of the hallway is always going left…and then left again."

"That just made no sense," Artemis commented, staring at Dea skeptically.

"Nothing ever does, now does it?" Dea waved her hands in front of her face mysteriously, and then smiled. "Well, I'm going to go now, and just remember to go left and then left."

Artemis opened his mouth to protest, but Dea had disappeared.

Left and then left again? That was impossible, Artemis thought, studying the hallway. He could only go in one direction, and that was straight ahead. Even as he thought this, Artemis turned so that he was facing left, and started walking, just waiting to smash into the wall.

He didn't however, and Artemis found himself out of the white hallway. His surroundings had changed dramatically. There were gray, stone walls looming way above him and behind him, creating a path. Artemis had a feeling he was in a labyrinth of some sort.

The path he was on split into two ahead, one path going left and the other going right. Artemis walked to the crossroads, and stopped. He remembered Dea's instructions to go left and left again, so Artemis picked the left path. Walking down the path, Artemis saw a solitary door in the distance. He started running towards it, but his distance from the door stayed the same. In fact, it almost seemed to distance itself farther and farther away. Artemis stopped running and stood there, staring at the door.

Maybe if the door moved farther away when he ran towards it then…

His speculation was cut short as the door became a blur and then re-solidified a few inches in front of Artemis. He arched one eyebrow, and turned the doorknob. The door swung open, and Artemis was pulled inside the doorway instantly.

Artemis opened his eyes to the empty street. It was the same as before. Artemis looked up to the gray sky. Briefly, he wondered what was happening in Life, and then turned his attention to the road. The image flickered and twitched, shadowy figures passing before Artemis's eyes. He willed them to fully materialize, concentrating. The figures solidified, turning into all sorts and kinds of people making their way along the road. The people paid Artemis no mind, only a few glanced at him in faint recognition. He walked to the middle of the road, making his way carefully into the crowd. Standing on the road, Artemis looked around futilely, wondering what he should do next.

"Hey! You there!" shouted a voice.

Artemis turned to find the source of the shout. He saw a middle-aged man with sandy-colored hair expertly making his way through the crowd towards Artemis. The man was dressed in a neat blue shirt and tan slacks, regular everyday clothes. The man stopped in front of Artemis, smiling.

"Hello. You're new here?" The man asked.

Artemis nodded, "Yes, you could say that."

"I'm John Greene, and you?"

Artemis replied, "Artemis Fowl the Second."

The man was pleasant. "That is an interesting name. Well, how do you like it here so far?"

Artemis smiled wryly as an answer, truly thinking about the question. As of now, not much.

**AN: Constructive criticism as always. I will post the next chapter as soon as I can. Reviews are always appreciated! **

**Again, contact me if you have any questions about the story. Until next time! ^_ **


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